Trimester 1 — Aug through Nov
Physical Security + AI
No PLTW dependency. Teach this first. Paper, discussion, and demo — no virtual lab needed.
Personal Security
Ethics, passwords, malware, browser security. Ends with the 'A Dangerous Situation' cyber case.
System Security
CIA triad, server vulnerabilities, malware analysis. Ends with the 'E-Commerce Enrichment' cyber case.
Trimester 3 — Mar through May · AP exam end of Week 8
Network Security
Wireshark, firewalls, segmentation, log analysis. Ends with the 'Water Treatment Facility Breach' cyber case.
Exam Preparation
Remaining AP topics, SIEM depth, data law review, full practice test, and FRQ writing. AP exam follows.
Applied Cybersecurity
Cryptography, digital forensics, and the 'Solve the Crime!' capstone. Post-exam — the victory lap.
Welcome to AP Cybersecurity
This course runs across two trimesters with a gap in between — which means how we sequence things matters more than in most classes. Trimester 1 builds the foundations you need to survive that break. Trimester 3 applies them, goes deeper, and gets you ready for the AP exam.
The PLTW labs, cyber cases, and credential are the backbone of this course for everyone. The AP content is layered on top of that — extra depth, exam prep, and the option to sit for the AP exam in May. You can complete the course on the PLTW track alone, or opt into the full AP track. Either way you get the same labs and the same cyber cases; the AP track just adds the exam-focused material and the exam itself.
Understanding cybersecurity isn't optional knowledge anymore, and not just on a global scale. The same techniques you'll study here — phishing, weak passwords, unpatched systems, social engineering — are what take down hospitals, water treatment plants, and school districts, and they're exactly how individual accounts and identities get compromised every single day, including yours. What you learn here protects more than a grade.
Take the labs seriously, don't skip the steps that build up to each cyber case, and use whichever path — PLTW alone or the full AP track — actually fits you.
What this course is, how it's structured, and what the two trimesters look like.
Watch →How to navigate the42ndperiod.com, find your unit, and get to a PLTW lab.
Watch →How to log into PLTW, access virtual servers, and submit your work.
Watch →How to use AP Central, find daily videos, and check your progress checks.
Watch →Course Documents
Grading, expectations, trimester structure, and the AP exam policy.
📘The full official College Board course and exam description.
📊Every PLTW activity mapped to its AP CED topic. The Venn diagram for this course.
⭐ Read this first⛔What must be complete before each cyber case Problem. Do not skip steps.
📝Attack names, control types, access models, crypto key direction, and data law names.
📅Full trimester breakdown — what we cover, when, and why in that order.
A Note About AI
- Generate course and unit splash images
- Create AI podcast episodes for each lesson
- Build interactive tools and lab companions
- Format and layout lesson content consistently
You're in a cybersecurity course. This semester you'll learn exactly how AI-generated content is weaponized — deepfakes, AI-written phishing, synthetic documentation. If you use AI to fake your own understanding, you're practicing the attacker's playbook on yourself.